I received information about this in my email this morning. ThomasX, this may be something you'd be interested in. It would be a good way to begin to hook up with Irish learners in the region:

IRISH LANGUAGE IMMERSION COURSE

WHERE: Butte, Montana

WHEN: July 19 - 26, 2014

One-week credit and non-credit courses for beginners and advanced students

COST: $299 ($275 for Friends of Irish Studies members)

ACCOMMODATIONS: $25/night

MORE INFORMATION: www.friendsofirishstudies.com or friendsofirishstudies@gmail.com

Redwolf

Yes, that's another idea. There are quite a few short immersion courses offered in the US and they'd be much less expensive of course. Check out the Daltaí na Gaeilge website for a listing of some of them. www,daltai.com

I think this one in Butte may be the closest one to Boise, where ThomasX lives (it's still about a six-hour drive, though!). Other than that, the only immersion courses I know of on the west coast (most of them weekend courses) are in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland, OR. I have heard of one in Olympia, WA, but I don't have any of the details on it.

Redwolf

This thread seems to be separated from ThomasX's original one discussing life in Boise. I'd join them, but I'm not sure whether there's a separate purpose to this one. In any case, I mentioned the courses in Butte in the other thread, and gave him Terry O'Riordan's email address.

Anyway, I've gone to the classes in Butte twice, and benefited a lot from them. The last time, they had both a beginner class and an intermediate level class. Some things were repetition for me, but the repetition was really good, and the best thing about the classes is all the talking. Terry (who taught the intermediate one, and teaches Irish at UM) will largely refuse to speak English and will keep on speaking a whole lot of Irish to you even out of class when the group does meals or whatever together. Terry is very loquacious and opinionated (and very religious), so the discussion can range over a whole host of topics. He's fun to argue with, and is a good sport about it all (though you may be called a heathen, in a nice way, as I was).

For those who are interested in Munster Irish, that's what Terry speaks. He grew up in Cork, but was raised largely by his native-speaking grandparents from Kerry, so it's basically Kerry Irish.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

It's in its own thread because it's a separate announcement (I received it via email this morning)...I just mentioned ThomasX as we'd been talking with him about Butte, but I wanted others who might be interested to see it as well.

Not a bad price, for a week's immersion!

Redwolf

Yes, the price is very reasonable for what you get, and they arrange for inexpensive rooms in the modern dorm near where the classes are held there, which also has a coin laundry room. The prices are very reasonable at the college's nearby cafeteria, although there are some times when it isn't open, so having a car is handy. There are usually plenty of cars among the Irish students, and people tend to get together after hours, which is good for continuing your Irish practice, at least if Terry is there. The classes are held at Montana Tech, which was founded as a mining college and doesn't have summer classes, which is why the space is available. The college also rents space for other activities, so there may be cheerleader camps or high school football camps going on at the same time.

Butte is surrounded by mountains and is very interesting. It has a network of old mines under it and it once had an active Irish-speaking community (well into the 1920's or 1930's, from what I heard), with the many miners who came there for work. There are some museums and interesting shops, restaurants, and bars in the town as well. If you have a car, I highly advise setting aside time to visit other parts of Montana, too. It's a beautiful state, and I made a circle all the way around it, and also visited North Dakota (my 50th state to visit) and up into the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

One of my most vivid memories of that area is going down into Lewis & Clark caverns when I was a kid.

It's also only a few hours drive from Robbers Roost, Virginia City, and West Yellowstone (Montana's gateway to Yellowstone National Park).

Redwolf

A heathen learning Irish? In ainm Dé!

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I used to go on my holiers to the Western United States and I love it there!

I was at a world music thing in Butte and it was really cool.

If there were a Gaeltacht in Montana or Wyoming, it would be heaven!

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Well, Butte comes pretty close. It is a beautiful area. The weather can be pretty extreme, if you're not used to it, and the politics are very conservative, but you can't beat the scenery! I grew up in Eastern Washington State, and had several relatives in Montana, so we used to visit quite often when I was a kid.

Redwolf